The Instant Pot 5-5-5 Method That Yields Perfectly Hard-Cooked Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs can be tricky. That's why there are plenty of hard-boiled egg hacks on the internet. It's impossible to tell if it's done just by looking. So you have to rely on perfect timing and hope for the best. However, there's a trick that yields perfect, easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs every time, and it involves an Instant Pot.

The hack is referred to as the 5-5-5 method because the process involves pressure-cooking the eggs for five minutes, letting them sit (natural release) for five minutes, and then placing them in a bowl of ice-cold water for five minutes after manually releasing the rest of the pressure. The entire process takes more than 15 minutes, as Instant Pots commonly take 10 to 15 minutes to heat up and come to pressure. 

After the resting time, during which you allow the pressure cooker to naturally lose pressure, you must depressurize the unit to release any remaining pressure before opening the lid and removing the eggs and moving them straight to the ice bath. The idea of the ice bath is to quickly cool down the eggs so they don't continue cooking, resulting in a rubbery, overcooked yolk. Some people also believe the sudden temperature change "shocks" the egg whites away from the shell so they're easier to peel. But that may be junk science.

Some versions of the method tell you to completely cover the eggs in water before cooking. Others only ask for a cup of water in the bottom of the pot underneath the eggs, allowing them to steam. The latter is likely better, though, as covering them with water boils rather than pressure-cooks them, which may be at least slightly important to peelability. 

The original food science guru, Alton Brown, notes that the atmospheric pressure within the pressure cooker stops air from escaping the shell's pores, lending to somewhat easier-to-peel eggs. That said, he thinks the real magic is in the rapid temperature increase of the pressure cooker and thorough cooling (not necessarily fast cooling). Some methods also advise placing the eggs pointed tip-down when cooking to make them easier to peel by giving you a larger airspace to crack into. Others say you should peel your eggs under running water for easy peeling. 

But make sure it's done first, or there's no way to finish cooking it. Jacques Pépin likes to spin hard-boiled eggs to check for doneness. Just spin the hard-boiled egg on a flat surface after it has cooled slightly. If it's cooked, it stands up like a top while spinning. Another tip is to shine a flashlight through the egg. An uncooked egg lights up entirely, while a hard-boiled egg lets very little light pass through.